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Sri Lanka Survives Netherlands Scare
Despite a resolute fightback by the Dutch, Sri Lanka held on to register a 21-run victory in their first Super Six match of the ongoing World Cup qualifiers worked off at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Friday.
After opting to bat first, A disciplined bowling from the Dutch saw Sri Lanka settle for a below-par score of 213 runs riding on the efforts of Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored his highest individual score.
The Asian Champions found themselves struggling from the first bowl after in-form Pathum Nissanka walked back to the pavilion for a golden duck.
Adding salt to Sri Lanka’s wound they lost two more wickets under five overs when Ryan Klein trapped Kusal Mendis for 10, while van Beek removed Sadeera Samarawickrama in the very next over to pin them further down.
To make things worse Logan Van Beek picked up his third wicket in the seventh over that of Charith Aslaanka (2) derailing the Lankans further.
Sri Lanka struggling at 34 for 4 inside seven overs, Dhanajaya de Silva showed some restraint and put on two of Sri Lanka’s most productive partnerships with Wanindu Hasaranga and Mahesh Theekshana.
De Silva struck 93 off 111 balls hitting eight fours and two sixes. He was well supported by Hasaranga and Theekshana, who scored 20 and 28 respectively.
De Silva and Mahesh Theekshana were engaged in a 77-run partnership for the 8th wicket to help Sri Lanka post a defendable total.
In reply, it was almost the carbon copy of the Sri Lanka innings when the Netherlands both openers fell for ducks, Lahiru Kumara removing Vikramjit Singh and Dilshan Madushanka accounting for Max O’Dowd.
Despite a shaky start, the Dutch revived their innings to a certain extent thanks to Wesley Barresi (52) and de Leede (41) putting on 77 for the third wicket before Hasaranga and Theekshana with the ball this time wreaked havoc, sharing five wickets between them. Skipper Scott Edwards (67*) scored his fourth fifty of the tournament to keep the Netherlands in the hunt. But he soon ran out of partners and his side succumbed to a 21-run defeat.
With this win, Sri Lanka has one foot already in the World Cup in India. They need just another win to seal the deal. They take on Zimbabwe at the same venue next.
Meanwhile, In the seventh-place play-off semifinal in Harare, Ireland secured a comfortable six-wicket victory over the USA, who remained winless in the tournament.
The USA asked to bat first, lost two early wickets but recovered with an 88-run partnership between Saiteja Mukkamalla and Sushant Modani. However, Ireland fought back, taking quick wickets and slicing the USA to 196 all out. Craig Young shone with three wickets.
In the chase, Ireland started well, thanks to Paul Stirling’s breezy fifty at the top and was helped by Andy Balbirnie’s 45* along the way as they chased the target with 15.4 overs to spare.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 213 in 47.4 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 93, van Beek 3-26) defeated Netherlands 192 in 40 overs (Edwards 67*, Theekshana 3-31) by 21 runs
ශ්රී ලංකාව නෙදර්ලන්ත භීෂණයෙන් ගැලවෙයි.
නෙදර්ලන්ත ක්රීඩකයන්ගේ නොපසුබට සටනක් නොතකා, සිකුරාදා සිම්බාබ්වේ බුලවායෝහිදී පැවැත්වෙන ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගාවලියේ ඔවුන්ගේ පළමු සුපර් සික්ස් තරගයෙන් ලකුණු 21 ක ජයක් වාර්තා කිරීමට ශ්රී ලංකාව සමත් විය.
ප්රථමයෙන් පන්දුවට පහරදීමට තීරණය කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව නෙදර්ලන්ත ක්රීඩකයන්ගේ දක්ෂ පන්දු යැවීම හමුවේ සිය ඉහළම පුද්ගලික ලකුණු සංඛ්යාව රැස්කළ ධනංජය ද සිල්වාගේ උත්සාහය මත ශ්රී ලංකාව ලකුණු 213කට සීමා විය.
දක්ෂ පන්දු යැවීමක නිරත වූ පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක ලකුණු රැස් නොකිරීම නිසාවෙන් ආසියානු ශූරයින් පළමු පන්දු යැවීමේ දී අසීරු තත්ත්වයකට පත් විය. ශ්රී ලංකාවේ තුවාලයට ලුණු එකතු කරමින් රයන් ක්ලයින් කුසල් මෙන්ඩිස් ලකුණු 10කට දවා ගනිද්දී තවත් කඩුලු 2ක් ශ්රී ලංකා පිලට අහිමි වූ අතර, වැන් බීක් ඊළඟ ඕවරයේදීම සදීර සමරවික්රම දවා ගත්තේ ඔවුන්ව තවත් පහළට තල්ලු කරමිනි.
තත්ත්වය වඩාත් නරක අතට හැරවීම සඳහා ලෝගන් වැන් බීක් හත්වැනි ඕවරයේදී චරිත් අසලංක ඔහුගේ තෙවැනි කඩුල්ල ලෙස දවා ගත්තේ ලංකා ක්රීඩකයන් තවත් පහළට ඇද දමමිනි.
ශ්රී ලංකාව ඕවර හතක් ඇතුළත කඩුලු 4ක් දැවී ලකුණු 34ක් ලබා සිටියදී අසීරු තත්ත්වයක සිටි අතර, ධනජය ද සිල්වා යම් සංයමයක් පෙන්නුම් කළ අතර වනිඳු හසරංග සහ මහේෂ් තීක්ෂණ සමඟින් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ වඩාත්ම ඵලදායි සබඳතා දෙකක් ඇති කළේය.
ධනංජය ද සිල්වා පන්දු 111කදී හතරේ පහර 8ක් සහ හයේ පහර 2ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 93ක් රැස් කළේය. ඔහුට සහය වූ හසරංග සහ තීක්ෂණ පිළිවෙළින් ලකුණු 20ක් සහ 28ක් ලබා ගත්හ.
ද සිල්වා සහ මහේෂ් තීක්ෂණ 8 වැනි කඩුල්ලට ලකුණු 77ක සබඳතාවයක නියැළෙමින් ශ්රී ලංකා පිල ආරක්ෂා කළ හැකි ලකුණු සංඛ්යාවක් වාර්තා කිරීමට ඉවහල් විය.
පිළිතුරු ලෙස නෙදර්ලන්ත ආරම්භක පිතිකරුවන් දෙදෙනාම දැවී යාම ශ්රී ලංකා ඉනිමේ කාබන් කොපියක් විය.
ආරම්භය බිඳවැටුණද, තෙවැනි කඩුල්ල වෙනුවෙන් ලකුණු 77ක සබඳතාවක් ගොඩනැගූ වෙස්ලි බැරේසි (52) සහ ද ලීඩ් (41)ගේ පිතිහරඹය හේතුවෙන් නෙදර්ලන්ත ක්රීඩකයන් තම ඉනිම යම්තාක් දුරට යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කළේ ය. ඔවුන්ට. නායක ස්කොට් එඩ්වර්ඩ්ස් (67*) මෙම තරගාවලියේ සිය සිවුවැනි අර්ධ ශතකය වාර්තා කරමින් නෙදර්ලන්තය තරඟයේ තබා ගැනීමට සමත් විය. නමුත් හසරංග සහ තීක්ෂණගේ පන්දු හමුවේ ඉක්මනින්ම ඔහුට අනෙක් පිතිකරුවන්ගේ සහය අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ කණ්ඩායම ලකුණු 21 ක පරාජයකට යටත් විය.
මෙම ජයග්රහණයත් සමඟ ඉන්දියාවේදී පැවැත්වෙන ලෝක කුසලාන තරගාවලියට ශ්රී ලංකාව දැනටමත් එක් පාදයක් හිමිකරගෙන සිටියි. එය සහතික කරගැනීමට ඔවුන්ට අවශ්ය වන්නේ තවත් ජයග්රහණයක් පමණි. ඔවුන් මීළඟට එම පිටියේදීම සිම්බාබ්වේ සමග තරග වදියි.
සංක්ෂිප්ත ලකුණු: ශ්රී ලංකාව ඕවර 47.4කදී 213 (ධනංජය ද සිල්වා 93, වැන් බීක් 3-26) නෙදර්ලන්තය ඕවර 40කදී 192 (එඩ්වර්ඩ්ස් 67*, තීක්ෂණ 3-31) ලකුණු 21කින් පරාජය කරන ලදී.
Football
AIFF Faces FIFA, AFC Ban Threat as October 30 Deadline Looms
Indian football is staring at yet another international suspension as FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have jointly warned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to ratify its long-pending constitution by October 30, 2025, or risk a complete ban from world football.
In a strongly-worded two-page letter sent on Tuesday (August 26) to AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, FIFA and AFC expressed “profound concern” over the failure to finalise and implement a revised constitution, a matter pending before India’s Supreme Court since 2017.
If suspended, India’s national teams and clubs would be barred from all international competitions, while the country’s ambitious 2036 Olympic Games bid in Ahmedabad could also be thrown into uncertainty.
FIFA & AFC Ultimatum
The letter, signed by FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov and AFC Deputy General Secretary Vahid Kardany, set out three urgent requirements for the AIFF:
1. Obtain a definitive Supreme Court order approving the revised constitution.
2. Ensure full compliance with FIFA and AFC statutes.
3. Formally ratify the constitution at the next AIFF General Meeting.
Failure to comply, they warned, would trigger sanctions, including full suspension of AIFF membership.
Previous Suspension in 2022
This is not the first governance crisis to hit Indian football. In August 2022, FIFA suspended the AIFF for “third-party interference” after a court-appointed Committee of Administrators temporarily ran the federation. That ban lasted just two weeks, lifted only after fresh elections were held in which Kalyan Chaubey defeated football legend Bhaichung Bhutia.
Domestic Fallout – ISL in Crisis
The deadlock has already disrupted Indian football at the domestic level. The Indian Super League (ISL), India’s top-tier professional league, has been put “on hold” by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the AIFF’s commercial partner, due to uncertainty over its Master Rights Agreement, which expires in December 2025.
At least three clubs have suspended operations or delayed salaries, while all 11 ISL clubs have warned of an “existential crisis.” Reports from FIFPRO further highlight cases of players’ contracts being terminated, leaving livelihoods at risk.
The Supreme Court of India will hear the matter again on August 28, a session that could determine the immediate future of the ISL and India’s football calendar.
What’s at Stake
If AIFF fails to meet the October deadline, India could lose:
• Participation in FIFA and AFC tournaments.
• Entry rights for national teams and clubs in international competitions.
• Momentum in its 2036 Olympics bid.
• Credibility with players, fans, and commercial partners.
For now, the football fraternity in India waits anxiously for the Supreme Court’s verdict and AIFF’s ability to steer through yet another governance storm
Football
Heritage Derby Trophy Goes to Hameed Al Husseinie College
Colombo – Hameed Al Husseinie College emerged victorious in the prestigious Heritage Derby Trophy football encounter against Zahira College, Maradana, securing a 3–1 win at the Colombo Racecourse grounds yesterday.
The match kicked off under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, adding special significance to this annual football rivalry.
Hameed Al Husseinie College took control early, leading 2–0 at halftime before sealing the victory with a third goal in the second half. Zahira College managed to pull one back, but it was not enough to challenge the dominant performance of the winners.
The trophy presentation was held soon after the final whistle, with the principals of both schools — Rizvi Marikkar of Zahira College and Mrs. Dain of Hameed Al Husseinie College — present to witness the celebrations.
This latest victory adds another chapter to the rich history of the Heritage Derby, further cementing Hameed Al Husseinie College’s reputation in school football.
Football
Exclusive: AFC Fines Sri Lankan Footballer Over “Free Palestine” Message
Colombo – June 13
Sri Lankan national footballer Mohamed Thilham, who recently made headlines after displaying a “PRAY FOR FREE PALESTINE” message on his undershirt during post-match celebrations, has now been officially penalized by international football authorities.
Following Sri Lanka’s 3-1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers on June 10 at the Colombo Racecourse Stadium, Thilham—a non-playing substitute—unveiled the message, drawing both praise and criticism from various quarters.

⚠️ AFC Sanctions Player with USD 2,000 Fine
FIFA, in coordination with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has now issued a formal disciplinary notice to the player, imposing a USD 2,000 fine. This letter, according to sources within the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), was sent addressing to Thilham, underscoring AFC stance on politically charged expressions at official matches.
According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Code, players are prohibited from displaying political, religious, or personal slogans during matches or official ceremonies. While Thilham’s gesture occurred after the final whistle, FIFA and AFC treat any action within the stadium environment as part of official conduct.
⚽ FFSL Under Scrutiny for Disciplinary Action
FFSL President Jaswar Umar previously stated that the act “was not authorized by the federation” and “violates international football disciplinary norms.” He also confirmed that the FFSL would take internal disciplinary action against the player.
However, this incident has reignited public debate over the role of athletes in social advocacy and the limits imposed by international sports law. While some supporters see Thilham’s actions as courageous and morally driven, others have raised concerns about the player’s career stability and future opportunities under increasing scrutiny.
📝 Editorial Insight
At Sri Lankan Sports TV, we initially chose to withhold the content of the message in our match coverage—out of responsibility to the player’s career and to respect global sports protocol. However, the message went viral after several social media users circulated the full image, seemingly with the intention of sparking controversy.
The resulting spotlight has unfortunately led to a formal penalty, underscoring the real-world consequences that athletes may face when international regulations intersect with personal conviction.
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